People (over 50?) often say something like, “I look like the wreck of the Hesperus!”. Just what is it about the Hesperus? Hesperus was the “Greek God of The Evening Star”. The phrase, said to be of American-English origin, “means in a sad state, or, merely, dishevelled”.
People under 50 may have only heard their parents use the phrase, whilst people under 40 may not have heard the phrase much at all.
By Unknown author - State Library of Victoria, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=57683259
“The Wreck of the Hesperus” is a poem written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. It can be found at https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44654/the-wreck-of-the-hesperus .
According to Wikipedia, “The Wreck of the Hesperus is a narrative poem by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, first published in Ballads and Other Poems in 1842*. It is a story that presents the tragic consequences of a skipper's pride. On an ill-fated voyage in winter, he brings his daughter aboard ship for company. The skipper ignores the advice of one of his experienced men, who fears that a hurricane is approaching. When the storm arrives, the skipper ties his daughter to the mast to prevent her from being swept overboard. She calls out to her dying father as she hears the surf beating on the shore, then prays to Christ to calm the seas. The ship crashes onto the reef of Norman's Woe and sinks; the next morning a horrified fisherman finds the daughter's body, still tied to the mast and drifting in the surf. The poem ends with a prayer that all be spared such a fate "on the reef of Norman's Woe."
* (Further, “The poem was published in the New World, edited by Park Benjamin, which appeared on January 10, 1840. Longfellow was paid $25 for it, equivalent to $680 in 2021.”)
The poem describes the Hesperus as a schooner. I found this image at https://wordhistories.net/2020/04/18/like-wreck-hesperus/: -
According to Wikipedia, “"The Wreck of the Hesperus" was adapted into films of the same name in 1927 and 1948”. The 1947 movie can be seen on YouTube. Naturally, I had to watch the 1947 black & white movie as part of my research in to the subject. It is, however, only loosely based on the wreck of the Hesperus.
Former Beatle George Harrison included a song titled "Wreck of the Hesperus" on his 1987 album Cloud Nine.
I also found this image: -
There are other images available online. Further details on the topic can be found at https://historicipswich.org/2021/01/03/wreck-of-the-hesperus-1839/.
There was a schooner called Hesperus in 1839, as explained in this newspaper cutting: -
It seems, however, that the Hesperus described by Longfellow was just fictional. I was intrigued when I came across this headstone at St Jude’s cemetery on 1st October 2017: -
The headstone shows that a Sophia Clarke, wife of a Thomas Clarke, came to Australia from Wanstead, Essex, England on the Hesperus. It arrived here in November 1884. Unfortunately, Sophia died just six years later, on 21st December 1890.
It seems then, that a ship called Hesperus came to Australia in 1884. I found at http://www.blaxland.com/ozships/year/arrive/s70.htm that a ship called Hesperus arrived at Adelaide on 20th September 1883. According to http://www.blaxland.com/ozships/events/8/723.htm#69719, there were several Clarkes on that voyage, but no Thomas or Sophia Clarke. There is no such listing, however, for 1884.
I then searched for any online information regarding Thomas’ voyage to Australia onboard the Hesperus. On Trove, I found: -
“South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA: 1839 - 1900) Wed 22 Oct 1884
IMMIGRANTS BY THE HESPERUS;
The sailing ship Hesperus, which left Plymouth on August 15, bound direct to Adelaide, is expected to arrive within the next few days.”
(So a ship called Hesperus did sail from Plymouth, England “bound direct to Adelaide” and was due to arrive at Adelaide late October or early November.)
“The immigrants on board are classified as follows: -
Colonial passage certificate holders— English, 143; Scotch, 26½; Irish, 143; foreign States, 10½. Colonial full-paid passage, certificate holders— English, 8; - United Kingdom assisted passages, 3; ditto free passages, 57.
There are in all 450 souls, equal to 391 adults, 108 being children under twelve years of age.”
The list of “Married Couples” included “Clarke, Thomas (greengrocer), and his wife Sophia”.
I also found the arrival date of “15th Nov 1884” (a little bit later than the forecast of late October or early November).
I found at https://langsfairyblog.wordpress.com/2021/07/19/the-wreck-of-the-hesperus/ that the real Hesperus was a schooner which was wrecked in December 1839.
According to Wikipedia, the Hesperus clipper ship “was an iron-hulled sailing ship on the London to Adelaide run, first for the Orient Line then Devitt & Moore. She next served in Russia as the training ship Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna on the Black Sea, then returned to England, where she was re-christened Silvana.
Further, the Hesperus was built by Robert Steele & Company of Glasgow in Greenock, Scotland in 1873. She was a full-rigged ship of 1,777 tons register, length 262.2 feet (79.9 m), beam 39.6 feet (12.1 m), depth 23.4 feet (7.1 m). She had been built especially for the South Australian trade route, and her first contract was to carry some 340 immigrants to Adelaide.
The Hesperus’ sailing days ended in a breaker's yard in 1923, as the Silvana.
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